2 Chronicles Chapter 24
Verses
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:1 "Joash [was] seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also [was] Zibiah of
He reigned twenty one or twenty two years contemporary with Jehu's reign, for Jehu reigned
"And he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem": The same number of years David and Solomon reigned.
"His mother's name also was Zibiah of
We mentioned in the previous lesson, that Joash lived in the temple with Jehoiada, the high priest. He was undoubtedly trained by him as well. This is the first mention of his mother. He reigned for forty years. The interesting thing to me in all of this, is as long as the High Priest was alive, he ruled in righteousness. When Jehoiada died, he returned to the evil ways of his grandmother.
2 Chronicles 24:2 "And Joash did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest."
"And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days": Worshipping the only true God, and ruling and walking according to the law of God.
"All the days of Jehoiada the priest": And so long as he observed his instructions, and as long as that priest lived, he reigned well. For to that period "all his days must be limited". For after his death he was seduced by the princes of Judah to idolatry, and lived scandalously, and died ignominiously.
Perhaps his early reign as king was more as a puppet king, and Jehoiada was actually ruling through the young king.
2 Chronicles 24:3 "And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters."
"Jehoiada took for him two wives": As Jehoiada was now too old to contract such new alliances, the generality of interpreters applies this statement to the young king.
"And he begat sons and daughters": How many is not said, nor do we read of the names of any of them, but of Amaziah who succeeded him.
Even in the choosing of Joash's wives, Jehoiada acted as a father toward him. It was the custom for the father to choose the bride for his son. Jehoiada would want to be careful in choosing wives for Joash, to be sure not to get someone like Athaliah. This does not mean that he married early in his reign. It means that when he got old enough, he married. It appears that Jehoiada lived several years over twenty of the reign of Joash.
2 Chronicles 24:4 "And it came to pass after this, [that] Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD."
After his marriage, when he was about twenty or
"That Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord": Which in some places might be fallen to decay, having been built one hundred and fifty years or more. And in others defaced by Athaliah, and needed ornamenting (see 2 Kings 12:4).
The temple had run down tremendously during the reign of Athaliah. Jehoiada probably, brought the needs to the attention of Joash.
2 Chronicles 24:5 "And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened [it] not."
To communicate his mind unto, and give them a charge and instructions.
"And said unto them, go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year”: What money he means is more fully explained in (2 Kings 12:4).
"And see that ye haste the matter": For he was very desirous of having this work accomplished. It being the place of the worship of God, and where he had been preserved in his infancy.
"Howbeit, the Levites hastened it not": Either through negligence in them to collect the money, or backwardness in the people to give. Or through an avaricious disposition to keep it, and use it for themselves. So that it was delayed unto the twenty third year of his reign (2 Kings 12:6).
This order of Joash for the priests and Levites to go and gather funds to repair the temple, seemed to not be heeded immediately. They put it off to a more convenient time.
2 Chronicles 24:6 "And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, [according to the commandment] of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?"
Who was either the High Priest, or the head of his course. Or, however, the chief of the priests and Levites concerned in this affair. And, indeed, was the chief or prime minister of state.
"And said unto him, why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah, and out of Jerusalem, the collection": The money to repair the house they were ordered to collect (2 Chron. 25:6).
"According to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?" For the repair of it, such as Moses required, and the people used to pay. Referring to the half shekel; or to a freewill offering of the people. Moses enjoined or directed to.
Even though Jehoiada was a great influence in the life of king Joash, he still was required to do whatever the king commanded him to do. Joash seemed to be a bit disturbed, because of the slackness of carrying out his order. Joash wanted to get started immediately improving the condition of the temple and its contents. He could not understand why Jehoiada would delay.
2 Chronicles 24:7 "For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim."
Not Ahaziah and his brethren, in the lifetime of Jehoram. But sons of Athaliah by another man, as Kimchi suggests.
"Had broken up the house of God": Not that they had made ruptures in it, or broke down the walls of it. But had defaced it by taking off the gold and silver upon it.
"And also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim": Not strictly all, but a great many of them, as this word in many instances is used. As Kimchi observes, and with them furnished, beautified, and adorned the temple of Baal.
Now we see why the temple was in such a
2 Chronicles 24:8 "And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD."
"And at the king's commandment they made a chest":
"But Jehoiada the priest took a chest and bored a hole in its lid and put it beside the altar, on the right side as one comes into the house of the LORD; and the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money which was brought into the house of the LORD" (2 Kings 12:9).
"Without at the gate of the house of the Lord": I.e. in the court opposite the porch, and, as we learn from the parallel, by the side of the altar of burnt offering. Now, not the priests generally, but simply those who kept the door (probably the north door, Ezek. 11:35). Receiving the contributions of the people at their hands, into their own hands deposited them in the one chest.
(See the note on 2 Kings
This chest was a place to put the offerings of the people, as they brought them to the temple to help with the repair. The king was determined this work would go on.
2 Chronicles 24:9 "And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection [that] Moses the servant of God [laid] upon Israel in the wilderness."
By heralds or criers appointed for the purpose.
"To bring in to the Lord": Into the house of the Lord, and for the repair of it. And so for his service, honor, and glory.
"The collection that Moses the servant of the Lord laid upon Israel in the wilderness": Not to bring in the tabernacle of Moses, as the Targum here and in (2 Chron. 24:6). But such a voluntary gift as Moses moved the children of Israel to bring, when in the wilderness, for the service of the tabernacle.
This call for money to repair the temple went out to all of the cities, and not just to Jerusalem. The chest would be across from the brazen altar. Everyone was to bring half a shekel of silver, whether they were rich or poor. If everyone brought a minimum of this amount, they would have all they needed. They could bring more if they desired, but not less.
2 Chronicles 24:10 "And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end."
When they heard the proclamation, and understood for what use the money was to be given, and in what manner; all was agreeable and pleasing to them.
"And brought in, and cast into the chest": Through the hole that was in the lid of it (2 Kings 12:9).
"Until they had made an end": Everyone had given as much as he could, or thought fit to give.
This meant that everyone was happy about helping with the repair of the temple. They all gave their fair share.
2 Chronicles 24:11 "Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that [there was] much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance."
The place where his officer or officers met, appointed for this service; very probably in one of the chambers of the temple.
"And when they saw that there was much money" (see 2 Kings 12:10).
"The king's scribe": Or secretary.
"And the high priest's officer": His "Sagan", or deputy priest.
"Came and emptied the chest": Poured out the money, and told it, and put it up in bags (2 Kings 12:10). And took it, and carried it to its place again (2 Chron. 24:8). By the hands of the Levites that brought it.
"And thus they did day by day": As often as the chest was full, or they perceived there was much in it.
"And gathered money in abundance": Enough to repair the house, ornament it, and furnish it with vessels that were wanting.
Every time the chest was full, they brought the money to the king to care for it. It was filled at least once a day, and much money came in for the work. The High Priest and the scribe were in charge of it in the temple. They also, were responsible for carrying it to the king for safe keeping.
2 Chronicles 24:12 "And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD."
That is, they gave it to those who were overseers of them, to pay them with it (2 Kings 12:11).
"And hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord (see 2 Kings 12:12).
"And also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord": Where it required any work of that kind.
This particular offering was not for the priests. This money was spent entirely on the materials and the manpower to repair the temple and bring it back to its greatness. They hired brick masons, carpenters, engravers, iron workers, and those who worked with metals such as brass. This was a big undertaking, and would cost a lot of money.
2 Chronicles 24:13 "So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it."
The masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, and brasiers.
"And the work was perfected by them": The business of repairs was completely finished.
"And they set the house of God in his state": As it was at first.
"And strengthened it": So that it seemed as firm and stable as when first built.
2 Chronicles 24:14 "And when they had finished [it], they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, [even] vessels to minister, and to offer [withal], and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada."
The repairs of the house, all that were necessary.
"They brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada": That is, the overseers, when they had paid the workmen, brought what was left of the money collected to the king and the priest, to dispose of as they should think fit.
"Whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord": In the room of such that Athaliah and her sons had taken away, and converted to the use of Baal. For though it is said (2 Kings 12:13), that none were made of this money. The meaning is, that none were made of it until the work was finished, and the workmen paid.
"Even vessels to minister and offer withal": Which, according to Jarchi, were pestles and mortars to beat spices with. But Kimchi thinks they were small vessels with which they drew wine out of the bin for drink offerings: and spoons and vessels of gold and silver (see 2 Kings 12:13).
"And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada": The daily sacrifice, morning and evening.
They finished the structure first, and then used the money that was left to buy the utensils and things of service needed in the temple. It seemed as long as Jehoiada was alive, the temple worship went along the way it had been intended. Jehoiada the High Priest, had great influence over the spiritual activities of the nation of Judah.
Verses
(1)Leading the fight against idols;
(2)Permitting the coup against Athaliah; and
(3)Granting the throne to Joash to bring about the subsequent revival.
2 Chronicles 24:15 "But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; a hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died."
A very old man. Few at this time arrived to such an age; he was a rare instance.
"One hundred and thirty years old was he when he died": The oldest man we read of from the times of Moses, and older than he by ten years.
Many a modern church has similar problems to this. Sometimes the leader that founded a church is very strong, and keeps the church and its people in right standing with God. Sometimes when the founder dies, it falls into unclean hands and the whole congregation goes bad. Jehoiada lived a very long life and died at 130 years of age.
2 Chronicles 24:16 "And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house."
In honor to him, he having been the preserver of the king, and of the kingdom. And being by marriage a relation of the present king, uncle to him.
"Because he had done good in Israel": In that part of it which belonged to the kingdom of the house of David.
"Both towards God, and towards his house": Both for the restoring the pure worship of God, and the repairs of the temple.
Jehoiada had been a very good High Priest. He had actually led the nation of Judah back to God, through the young king he had raised. He had done much for Judah, and was buried honorably.
Verses
After Jehoiada’s death, the leaders of Judah convinced King Joash that they needed to return to idolatry. With the death of the old priest came the turning point in the reign of Joash. He “listened” means Joash gave consent for the idol worship and thus it began.
2 Chronicles 24:17 "Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them."
Joash’s apostasy “after the death” of his spiritual mentor, Jehoiada”, underscores the need for a personal, maturing faith that is characterized by a living fellowship with the Lord.
Joash is somewhere around 30 years of age at this time. He had depended heavily on Jehoiada for the decisions he had made. At the death of Jehoiada, he was possibly a little unsure of himself. He listened to the princes instead of checking with God.
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:18 "And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass."
Came no more to the temple at Jerusalem, forsook the worship and service of it.
"And served groves and idols": Worshipped idols in groves, which were upon high places.
"And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass": Their idolatry, and particularly on these princes. The Syrian army coming against them, and destroying them (2 Chron. 24:23).
Joash let them persuade him to let them worship in the groves and worship idols. Not all of the people left the LORD and His temple. Perhaps not even the king, but he was responsible for those that did follow false gods because he allowed it. God is a jealous God. He would not allow the worship of false gods. The wrath of God is toward these evil people of Judah and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 24:19 "Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear."
To reprove them for their sin, to warn them of their danger, to exhort them to their duty, and endeavor to restore them, and reduce them to the obedience and worship, of God. Such was his clemency, goodness, and condescension to them, before he executed his wrath upon them.
"And they testified against them": Against their sins, and declared what would befall them, and called heaven and earth to witness for God and against them.
"But they would not give ear": To their reproofs, admonitions, cautions, and exhortations, but went on in their own ways.
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:20 "And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you."
The spirit of prophecy, as the Targum. He was moved and influenced by it to speak what is after related. For the coming of the Holy Spirit upon believers in the Old Testament (see the note on Judges 3:10).
"Which stood above the people": In a desk, or sort of pulpit, in which the priests stood when they taught the people. That they might be the better heard, like that which Ezra used (Neh. 8:4).
"And said unto them, thus saith God": Being moved and directed by his Spirit, he spake in his name.
"Why transgress ye the command of the Lord, that ye cannot prosper?" By committing idolatry, which nothing could more hinder prosperity. Both in things spiritual and temporal, in soul and body.
"Because ye have forsaken the Lord, he hath also forsaken you": Because they had forsaken the worship of God, as the Targum, God had forsaken them, and was about to give them up into the hand of their enemies.
God tried to warn them through Zechariah. He was priest, because he was the son of Jehoiada. The words that he spoke to them were not his own, but the Words the Spirit of the LORD had given him for them. There has always been a Zechariah, who will endanger his own life to bring the message of truth to the people. He was trying to cause them to repent, and return to the LORD. Many a servant of God, like Zechariah here, has paid with his life for bringing the truth. They stoned Stephen to death for the very same thing.
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:21 "And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD."
Consulted together to take away his life, and got the order of the king to do it.
"And stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the Lord": Where he had stood and reproved them. This they did before he went out, while in the temple. And if he is the same Zechariah, as some think, our Lord speaks of, he was slain between the temple porch and the altar (see note on Matt. 23:35).
In this particular case it is even worse, because Joash the king ordered the stoning. He had forgotten Jehoiada saved his life from such a fate. Worse than that, he had forgotten what Jehoiada had taught him about the LORD. The king had turned his back on God.
2 Chronicles 24:22 "Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon [it], and require [it]."
“King remembered not” (compare 2 Chron. 22:11), where Jehoiada’s wife preserved Joash from certain death as an infant (or 2 Chron. 23:1 – 24:1), where Jehoiada devised a plan to dethrone Athaliah and crown Joash king (or 2 Chron. 24:2), where Jehoiada is acknowledged as the voice of righteousness for Joash. Yet, Joash willfully ignored all that. Zechariah died pronouncing the just doom that would eventually come.
It was bad enough to kill any priest, but it was even more terrible to do this to the son of Jehoiada, who had cared for him and saved his life. The LORD was seeing all of this and would require this life at the hand of Joash.
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:23 "And it came to pass at the end of the year, [that] the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus."
After the death of Zechariah; so soon had his prophecy its accomplishment.
"That the host of Syria came up against him": Against Joash, king of Judah, under Hazael king of Syria, or however sent by him. For some think this is a different expedition from that (in 2 Kings 12:17). Though others take it to be the same.
"And they came to Judah and Jerusalem": Not only came into the land of Judah, but as far as Jerusalem, the forces of Joash not being able to stop them.
"And destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people": The idolatrous princes of Judah (2 Chron. 24:17). Which is very remarkable that they should be distinguished from the people in their destruction, who had been the chief cause of the wrath of God coming upon them.
"And sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus": All the riches that were taken from them were sent to the king of Syria at Damascus; This looks as if Hazael was not with this army.
The punishment was not long in coming. The king of Syria, Hazael, came against them and defeated them in a great battle. They took the great wealth they had accumulated, and killed the princes as well.
2 Chronicles 24:24 "For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash."
“Small company”: As the Lord had previously given victory to Judah’s smaller army because of their faithfulness (2 Chron.
This defeat of a “very great army” by a small army calls to mind the account of Asa’s smaller army defeating the vast Ethiopian army (chapter 14). Asa’s humble cry to God brought about a surprising victory while Joash’s disobedience and violence produced a surprising defeat.
God's wrath was against Joash and his men, so a very small army from Syria were able to defeat them. They had forsaken God and He forsook them.
2 Chronicles 24:25 "And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchers of the kings."
Unlike righteous Asa (2 Chron.
Like Asa and Jehoshaphat before him, Joash started out his reign with a zeal for God. Yet he did not finish well. “His own servants conspired against him” because he had become so evil. To finish well, strong in the faith (Acts 20:24; Phil.
The Syrians did not bother to take Joash home with them. He was seriously ill in his own bed, and they just left him. We do not know what illness he had, or whether it began in the battle or not. We do know he was seriously ill. The very people, who had helped make him king, now killed him because of what he did to Jehoiada's son. He did not have an honorable place of burial. He was buried in Jerusalem, but not with David and those of honor.
Verses
2 Chronicles 24:26 "And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess."
The close of his life was embittered by a painful malady, which long confined him to bed.
"His own servants conspired against him": These two conspirators (whose fathers were Jews, but their mother’s aliens), were probably courtiers. Who, having constant access to the bedchamber, could the more easily execute their design.
"For the blood of the sons": Read "the son" of Jehoiada. Public opinion seems to have ascribed the disasters of his life and reign to that foul crime. And as the king had long lost the esteem and respect of his subjects, neither horror nor sorrow was expressed for his miserable end!
It is not important really, who actually killed Joash. God killed Joash for his sins.
2 Chronicles 24:27 "Now [concerning] his sons, and the greatness of the burdens [laid] upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they [are] written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead."
The sons of Joash; how many they were, and what their names.
"And the greatness of the burdens laid upon him": Which some understand of the hard and heavy prophecies of the Lord against him. And others of the heavy taxes and tribute imposed on him by the king of Syria. And others of the collection for the repairs of the temple (2 Chron. 24:6).
Where the word used signifies a burden. And it follows:
"And the repairing of the house of the Lord": The whole history of that.
"Behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings": Not in the canonical book so called, but in the history, commentaries, or annals of the kings of Judah now lost.
"And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead" (see 2 Kings 12:21).
Some very good things could be said of Joash. He truly did great things for God. He chose his friends among those who were not of God, and that was his downfall. The repairing of the temple is written about in the book of Kings in the Bible. Amaziah was possibly his only son left. He would reign in his father's stead.
2 Chronicles Chapter 24 Questions
1.Verse 1 said, Joash was _________, when he began to reign.
2.He reigned __________ years in Jerusalem.
3.Where had Joash lived, until he became king?
4.How long did Joash rule in righteousness?
5.How many wives did Jehoiada take for him?
6.Jehoiada acted as a _________ to Joash.
7.What did Joash tell the priests to do, that they did not do immediately?
8.Who did Joash call to talk to about this?
9.Who is the wicked woman in verse 7?
10.What had she done with the dedicated things?
11.Where did the king put the chest to take the offerings?
12.What did he want to gather the money for?
13.Where was this offering to come from?
14.How much was each person to bring?
15.How did the people feel about taking up this offering?
16.Who brought the chest to the king?
17.Who came to empty the chest?
18.How often did they have to empty the chest?
19.What did they use the money for?
20.What did they make with the gold and silver?
21.How old was Jehoiada, when he died?
22.Who did Joash start believing, after the death of Jehoiada?
23.What did they cause Joash to do?
24.He sent ____________ to them to bring them back to Him.
25.Which particular prophet brought them a message from God?
26.What was the message?
27.What did the people do to the prophet?
28.What was the last thing the prophet said?
29.What country did God send against Jerusalem?
30.What happened to Joash?
31. Where else was this recorded?